What We Know: HTC One M9 (Hima) rumors and leaks thus far

Last year’s HTC One M8 was one of the hottest Android devices to be released, mainly because it featured a premium aluminum unibody in a slim package. With expectations among consumers rising, HTC has their work cut out for them to top an already good design with their upcoming One M9.

Rather than passing along every single rumor that comes across our plate we’ve opted to cover only those devices that we find most relevant. To that end, the “What We Know” column aims to highlight the flagship smartphone models that are looming on the horizon.

What you’ll find below is a list of rumors, leaks, speculation, images, and other information that pertains to the HTC One M9. We’ve done our best to gather up the juiciest stuff floating around, even if it conflicts with other reports. Unless otherwise noted, this is all to be considered unofficial and unconfirmed.

Note: This post will be updated continually until such time that the device is announced by HTC and made official.

Design

The one thing that HTC has perfected on its flagship devices is the design. The HTC One M8 was very well-received and even critically acclaimed for being one of the first Android devices to feature an all-metal encasing, so it is expected that it will continue that trend.

The One M9 is expected to come within a 144.3 x 69.4 x 9.6 mm frame. Comparing it to its predecessor, it is 2.1 mm shorter vertically and 1.2 mm thinner horizontally. The One M9 also comes in at 2 mm thicker, most likely to support the bigger battery expected in the device.

In the first batch of leaks from NoWhereElse, their images depict that the reasoning for the slimming down is due to the fact that HTC removed the outer metal rim seen on the One M8.

To give a better perspective of the aesthetic changes, Senior Editor of NoWhereElse posted an image via his Twitter account detailing the differences. The range from the lack of metal rim, front sensor/flash, and a smaller gap between the HTC logo on the bottom of the display.

Another change made to the design is the location of the lock buttons. They now will join the volume rockers on the right-hand side of the device, whereas it used to be on the top of the device. The button placement can be seen in the latest leaks obtained by NoWhereElse from case renders for the One M9.

Display

The HTC One M9 has been rumored to have a screen size ranging from 5 to 5.5 inches, with the latter being more widely supported, and even backed by infamous leaker upleaks. HTC will not join the fray of QHD displays, but retain FHD support.

A 5 inch display sporting 1080p resolution comes in at 443 ppi, so the picture will definitely be crisp. It is also expected that HTC will stick with LCD display technology and not move to AMOLED, although that is unconfirmed.

While nothing has been announced as far has what glass the display will feature, it is safe to assume that the device will feature Corning’s latest Gorilla Glass 4, as will other flagships of 2015.

Camera

If there was any area of the HTC One M8 that was lacking, it was definitely in the camera category. HTC kept trying to boost their UltraPixel setup claiming that quality wasn’t related to the amount of pixels. Consumers voiced their opinions of their distaste for the 4 UltraPixel camera seen on the One M8, and it seems as they have listened.

According to upleaks, the device will now boast a massive 20.7 megapixel camera in the rear and a reported 13 megapixel or 4 UltraPixel camera up front. The 13 megapixel camera for the front-facing shooter has been reported more often, and even showed up on an AnTuTu Benchmark, but the UltraPixel setup hasn’t been ruled out entirely.

Internal Hardware

The internal aspects of the HTC One M9 are the part of the device that is most widely agreed upon, as it has been seen on the AnTuTu Benchmark as well as reported by upleaks. The device will feature Qualcomm’s 2.0 GHz octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor that will be backed up by 3 GB of RAM, and an Adreno 430 GPU.

It is unknown if the rumored overheating issues on the Snapdragon 810 processor will cause any delays for the release of the One M9, but according to Bloomberg, Samsung has already jumped ship.

The One M9 will feature 32 GB of ROM and will have the option to expand up to 128 GB. Including an external microSD slot on their devices have been a staple for HTC and is one of the reasons why consumers like their devices so much.

To top off all of the internals, a rumored 2,850 mAh battery will power the HTC One M9. This is a significant boost from the HTC One M8’s 2,600 mAh battery. As always with HTC, the battery is expected to not be removable.

OS

HTC’s latest device will be running Android 5.0 Lollipop straight out the box. While some of the devices HTC has released are already receiving the latest Android OS update, none have been shipped with a device before. On top of Android Lollipop will come HTC’s custom user interface (UI) called Sense.

The Sense UI version on the One M9 will be updated to 7.0, up from version 6.0 that is currently seen on the One M7 and M8. HTC has done a fairly good job keeping their new update under-wraps and little is known about it, except for a few screenshots from You Mobile.

The images barely give us a peek into what to expect from Sense 7.0, except for the fact that it features Material Design and it has newly added detailed battery stats. It is also expected to feature an avatar maker and other features such as BlinkFeed.

Launch

It has been announced that HTC will debut the HTC One M9 (Hima) March 1st at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona this year. It is was announced by an image that stated “Utopia in progress.”

The AndroidGuys team will continue to keep this article updated with the most recent news surround HTC’s next flagship, the One M9. So, be sure to bookmark this page and check back often as this page will continually receive updates!

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